Like this:

After listening to Georgette Heyer’s novels Sylvester and The Convenient Marriage, read by RA, I was a little adamant to tackle The Lords of the North. This Bernard Cornwell novel, part of the Saxon Stories, didn’t sound like anything I would be interested it. Third in the series, it is based in the 9th Century Anglo-Saxon kingdoms Wessex and Northumbria.

You see my point- Saxon, Danish, Vikings and battle, guts and such.

It turned out there were 2 things I didn’t take into account:

♦ Bernard Cornwell weaves stories in such a wonderful picaresque manner, his sense of humour balances out the gore of battle.

♦ Richard Armitage can read a story like no other and create a reality that is extremely appealing. As I have seen with his other audiobooks, he is able to create a multum of characters with hybrid accents, that perfectly fit the era. As always you end up forgetting all the characters are read by one man. Truth be told, it doesn’t seem read at all.

The combination is simply magical. I regret that RA recorded only one of the books of the series, however I shall have a clear image of Uhtred when I read the remaining. And what an attractive image it is!

The protagonist, Uhtred of Bebbanburg, makes his way back to his native Northumbria seeking revenge against his uncle Ælfric and childhood enemies Sven the One-Eyed and Kjartan the Cruel. He is upset because of King Alfred’s snub and wishes to cut all ties with him.

I know history buffs will be upset at me, but throughout the recording, I imagined Uhtred as a Saxon version Guy of Gisborne.